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In this new series on Stampede Blue, I’m going to break down each player on a 50-100 Madden-style scale each week to help identify and illustrate which players are the best and most valuable players on the team. Here is a breakdown of the tiers:
Tiers
95 to 100 — One of the 3, 4 best players at his position in the NFL
90 to 94 — An elite, top 10 NFL player at his position in the NFL
85 to 89 — A borderline elite player who will make plenty of plays in each game
80 to 84 — An above average starter
75 to 79 — An average starter who won’t hurt you
70 to 74 — An average starter who should only be used in small spurts
65 to 69 — A below average starter and above average backup
60 to 64 — An average backup
60 or below — A borderline roster player
Quarterbacks
Philip Rivers — 84 (+2)
Jacoby Brissett — 76
Jacob Eason — 68
Running Backs
Jonathan Taylor — 78 (+1)
Nyheim Hines — 74
Jordan Wilkins — 69 (+3)
Wide Receivers
T.Y. Hilton — 82 (-2)
Parris Campbell — 77 (+1) (Placed on IR — last week on rankings)
Michael Pittman — 75 (-1)
Zach Pascal — 74 (+1)
Daurice Fountain — 65
Ashton Dulin — 64
Dezmon Patmon — 61
Tight Ends
Jack Doyle — 79
Mo Alie-Cox — 74 (+3)
Noah Togiai — 60 (+1)
Offensive Line
Quenton Nelson — 96
Anthony Castonzo — 86
Ryan Kelly — 81
Braden Smith — 80
Mark Glowinski — 78 (+1)
Le’Raven Clark — 68
Danny Pinter — 65
Chaz Green — 62
Defensive Line
DeForest Buckner — 92 (+1)
Denico Autry — 81 (+1)
Justin Houston — 79
Al-Quadin Muhammed — 74 (+2)
Grover Stewart — 71
Tyquan Lewis — 71 (+2)
Ben Banogu — 67 (-1)
Taylor Stallworth — 66 (+1)
Eli Ankou — 61
Linebackers
Darius Leonard — 93 (+1)
Bobby Okereke — 75
Anthony Walker — 75 (-3)
Zaire Franklin — 68
EJ Speed — 66
Matthew Adams — 64
Jordan Glasgow — 61
Secondary
Kenny Moore III — 84 (+2)
Rock Ya-Sin — 75
Khari Willis — 71 (+1)
Xavier Rhodes — 70 (-2)
Malik Hooker — 70 (-1) (Placed on IR — last week on rankings)
TJ Carrie — 69 (+1)
Julian Blackmon — 68 (+3)
George Odum — 67
Tavon Wilson — 66
Ibraheim Campbell — 64
Isaiah Rodgers — 63 (+1)
Tremon Smith — 62
Special Teams
Rigoberto Sanchez — 80
Luke Rhodes — 78 (+1)
Rodrigo Blakenship — 72 (+3)
Biggest Climbers
Mo Alie-Cox
Give the man more reps! It’s clear that Alie-Cox has developed and improved a lot over the last few years and had over 100 yards receiving with some reps coming against Eric Kendricks, a top cover linebacker. Alie-Cox took a huge step forward this week and he proved he can be a very good rotational player on the offense.
Jordan Wilkins
Taylor got most of the carries, but it was Wilkins who impressed the most. Wilkins averaged 4.4 yards per touch versus Taylor’s 3.9 yards per touch (Taylor had 3 times the touches). Wilkins provides a good spark and can handle his own. He needs more carries and touches.
Biggest Droppers
Xavier Rhodes
Rhodes is losing reps and for good reason: he’s just not an effective starter and Kenny Moore and TJ Carrie are better options with Rock Ya-Sin out. The highly touted cornerback signed with the Colts on a one year prove it deal and so far he’s proving that his best years are behind.
T.Y. Hilton
Another down week means Hilton drops a bit again. Hilton had an ugly drop on a long guaranteed touchdown and was again invisible throughout large stretches of the game. His ineffectiveness and the injury of Parris Campbell forced the Colts to go to run heavy attack. He will need a big bounce-back game against one of the weakest secondaries in the league in order for him to avoid this slide.